lynaerith

[lynaerith]

ONS Chapter 129 Pet Theory

Not to be critically insane… but I returned from my brief intermission from ONS to read chapter 129 and be… absolutely befuddled by whatever the hell Kagami is cooking in the kitchen.

It should be obvious, but spoilers for ONS chapter 129 lie ahead.

So, as a quick recap of c.129, we learn: Sika Madu is punished for his choices by eternal damnation / being burned; Homunculus Yu created humanity at Sika Madu’s request; and apparently, the most bewildering of all: our current iteration of Yu is “also” Mika.

So, what the hell does that mean? Particularly, the last bit.

Well—when I think of the theme/trope of “two beings sharing one soul”, my mind is instantly drawn to the idea of soulmates. The concept of soulmates isn’t new to Mika and Yu, and they’ve often been narratively explained to have some sort of allusion to that (between Yu refusing to always give Mika up/finding him, Vessel Yu being created for the purpose of reviving Mika, and us later finding out Yu and Mika have been together for several millennia).

I believe this newest chapter takes this one step further—soulmates are often considered to be two halves of the same soul. In Greek Mythology, soulmates were two humans who were initially one, and then split apart due to God’s wrath (caused by human ego and pride).

Perhaps this is where ONS is currently leading us?

Of my own opinion, it’s a rather… sharp turn I wasn’t expecting the storyline to take. It’s kind of blindsiding. I wonder what sort of narrative significance this will bring?

And maybe the soulmate idea is completely out-of-bounds wrong. I’m not even going to try to piece things together anymore tbh. It is what it is at this point.

[lynaerith]

what the hell is going on in ons chap 129 💀

[lynaerith]

Around 1 week ago, fans over on Twitter voted on this year's MikaYuu Week theme. The two options, Date Nights and Reincarnation AUs, were equally popular!

SO WE DECIDED TO DO BOTH!

DATES: October 8 - 15

THEME: Date Nights Through the Ages

PROMPTS:

Day 1 | Prehistoric Times / Stargazing

Day 2 | Ancient Greece / Game Night

Day 3 | Medieval AU / Festival

Day 4 | Star-Crossed AU / Walk in Nature

Day 5 | Modern AU / Museum Visit

Day 6 | The Present / Wine & Dine

Day 7 | The Future / Coffee Date

Day 8 | HBD, Yuu-chan!

NOTE: Because we are combining 2, unrelated themes (Date Nights + Reincarnation AUs), there are 2 prompt lists this year. Feel free to combine the prompts for each day, or just stick to one list, or switch between them. Whatever you want! The goal is to be creative + just have fun!

Check out our Carrd in both English and Spanish for more info!

See you soon!!

[lynaerith]

they are happy and healthy and nothing bad has ever happend to them ♡

(ref from Vbvs2V)

[lynaerith]

Kind of a throwaway thought, but I believe chapter 127 being titled “Love or Loyalty” is referring to Mikaela and Paimon/Saito. Mikaela represents love: he loves his father dearly. Paimon represents loyalty: he would do anything to ensure the king is safe and alive—even if it meant killing his son to ensure protection from God’s wrath.

Therefore, the phrasing of the chapter’s title makes it seem like there was a choice to be made: either love or loyalty could prevail. Ultimately, love prevails. But it’s that same love which ends up crumbling and falling apart, too. Mikaela kills himself to protect his father from the supposed wrath of God—that’s out of pure love for him, and he even says so before taking his life.

This is metaphorical of course, Mikaela wins the battle because Paimon never stood a chance. But it’s still cool to think about the subtext of what that meant thematically.

[lynaerith]

Chapter 127 and Possibilities for Mikaela's Character Progression

i'm trying to piece together my thoughts on how this is supposed to be developing our understanding of Mika's character, and what this means for his overall character arc.

Time and time again, we witness Mika's selfless actions—and how far he's willing to push himself just to ensure that the people he cares about are safe. We've already seen Mika kill himself on three separate occasions: and each time has been of his own volition and sacrifice.

I saw someone on Twitter mention that perhaps the moral theme of ONS will turn out to be that Yu must learn to let go of Mika, but I don't think this is the case.

Yu has always had a passive role in relation to every time Mika has decided to off himself. As a homunculus, he was kicked out of the fighting area between Mikaela and Paimon; as an empty vessel, he simply waited for Sika Madu to resurrect Mikaela; as a human, he was ordered/forced by child Mika to run away, and then forced to watch vampire Mika give his life to protect him.

In other words, Yu has never had a choice on whether he could "keep" Mika around, because he was never actively partaking in the choice.

Moreover, I think that what this means for our current Mika, is that he must actually learn to be selfish. He must learn to put himself before others.

Every time Mika has died, in one way or another, it was for someone else. Mika choses to die, time and time again, because he has this self-perceived notion that the happiness and well-being of other's whom he cares deeply about is above his own.

I think this also ties into Mika's horrendous self-image and self-worth—which we see mostly when Mika is a vampire, and briefly as a demon.

Of course, this brings up a lot of questions as to why Kagami handeled vampire Mika the way he did for so long, but I digress.

Throughout the entire story of ONS, Mikaela has always been selfless; not just in death, but also in life. He gives himself up to Ferid to provide for his orphan family, he holds Seraph Yu back from killing his squad, he comes to the aid of the Shinoa squad despite quarreling, etc.

So, I think that now—especially because not once do we ever see demon Mika's face in chapter 127 as the entire ordeal occurs—Mika must realize he can't be selfless. He can't just keel over and die for others. He needs to start being selfish and wanting things: he needs to want to live. It's ironic, because Yu even tells Mika when they reunite in chapter 36 that he won't listen to anyone who so easily throws their life away.

Perhaps Mika's learned selfishness will play a key role in ensuring Yu is able to resurrect both humanity and Mika. Selfishness does share a similar weight to the seven sins biblically, and given just how biblical ONS is, perhaps sin itself will aid in the ordeal.

Anyways :') Please feel free to add your own commentary in reblogs/comments, offer your own insights or counterpoints. This is invitation for discussion!

[lynaerith]

[lynaerith]

[lynaerith]

[lynaerith]

He looks so good

[lynaerith]

This scene tho

[lynaerith]

my mikayuu stands arrived 🥳

some printing errors and defects but oh well

[lynaerith]

Not sure what you came across to write a post like that, but as fans we are allowed to say what we dislike about the manga. We are also allowed to question its "validity to exist" as long as there's no mindless hatred for the authors. Or hatred for those who enjoy it instead. If you don't enjoy reading negative opinions, you can just keep scrolling. If you find a troubling, hatred driven opinion, you can address it specifically. As someone who dislikes what the manga has become, I felt like you grouped me and all the people who dislike it on the same level, and that's not fair. I used to love ons, now I think it's extremely tedious and confusing and badly written, but I never spread hate and the same goes for many other ex fans. Also (but this is a different topic) I think it's easier to like the manga when you're Mika Yuu fan. Imagine not being one and having to bear the over presence of those two while all the other amazing characters are forgotten for months. Sometimes it feels like they could very well not be in the story at all and that's so frustrating. We all get to choose how to use that 'energy' so if somebody chooses to use it to write a bad review or a rant post, why wouldn't they? All that matters is that it's done respectfully, in my opinion

It wasn’t my intention to come off rudely. I apologize if it came off that way—personally, I was calling out harsh and unnecessary comments made by people who dispute any sort of positivity from fans.

People who have gone out of their way to be negative despite never picking up the manga at all. I do mention briefly that yes, I also believe the manga has problems, but to blatantly be so rude to readers and say things like “who is even reading this lol”—that’s what I was addressing as unnecessary commentary: those are not comments coming from fans.

I don’t disagree we should all critique the manga, but there should be separation between critique and straight up being rude. My text post (and by extension, myself) encourages commentary and analysis! If you check the comments and reblogs, I have replied to anyone who has made comments and engaged in discussion, as well as sent private messages to others to discuss more in depth.

I feel you took animosity towards my comment when that wasn’t my intention, so I apologize. But if you’d like to further discuss this, I would love to hear what you have to say. At the end of the day, what I enjoy is hearing what all readers have to say: I like gleaning in on what everyone has taken from the story and seeing what they disagree and agree with narratively.

What I am not interested in, is people who blatantly do not care about the manga, never bother to pick it up, and still hate on it for no reason other than to seem “cool” for disliking something. That sort of bandwagon behavior doesn’t fly with me—you’re better off spending your time on something you like as opposed to spewing hate.

That being said—I will say the manga is very mikayuu oriented right now: but honestly, that was kind of bound to happen regardless. They are and always were the center of the story.

My favorite characters are mahiru, ashera, and crowley. you can imagine I feel similarly about their narrative arcs being essentially side-stepped and forgotten. I have my gripes and critiques of the story. Those of us who do have our concerns and criticisms are not the people I was calling out.

Sorry if this wasn’t very concise or very?? well constructed. basically—take away: I apologize you felt lumped in with those I was mentioning as being distasteful, not my intention.

[lynaerith]

You’re probably right in this assumption. I have yet to read the LN’s just from time constraints (why is the Vampire Mikaela LN so hard to find translations for ;_;), but even without the supplemental information—the world building is still incredibly engaging!

The narrative structure and overall plot of ONS reminds me a lot of an American live-action series, “The Blacklist.” Both stories present two main characters who are far more intricately involved than initially assumed, and the people who are pulling the strings and puppeteering them are not who it seems. The plot is a rabbit hole that keeps going deeper when you think you’ve finally got it—and THAT’S what makes ONS so different from other manga for me personally. Everything feels connected but not in a way you’d expect superficially.

If the manga had been weekly/bi-weekly, it would’ve felt far less fleshed out, more rushed, and probably would’ve given the authors less time to revise and make adjustments for the overarching narrative, so I’m also glad it’s a monthly serialization.

With the new volume 30 cover dropping, it’s so disheartening to see anti-fans say things like “why is this still ongoing?”, “[xyz] manga has already wrapped up before this”.

Is there any obligation for manga’s to wrap up quickly? Why? If fans are enjoying the storyline, and the authors are content with continuing—why stop? Clearly we are only now beginning to enter the midpoint/climax of the narrative.

Not to mention ONS is a monthly serialization, it means we get 12 chapters at most per month if there are no set backs or delays. I’m not sure why people are so hard-pressed on hating the manga when it’s clear there’s still love for it.

Yes, some things could be done better. Yes, some characters got the short end of the stick—but at the end of the day it’s still a compelling narrative (personally). It’s intricate and engaging and sort of a rabbit hole that makes you want to keep figuring out what’s going to happen next.

And if the characterization bothers you THAT much, write your own canon divergence of the story and explore what you would’ve liked to see instead.

Mindless hate is just a waste of your own time and everyone else’s. Invest that energy in things you like instead of droving on about how much you hate a series and questioning its validity to exist.

[lynaerith]

With the new volume 30 cover dropping, it’s so disheartening to see anti-fans say things like “why is this still ongoing?”, “[xyz] manga has already wrapped up before this”.

Is there any obligation for manga’s to wrap up quickly? Why? If fans are enjoying the storyline, and the authors are content with continuing—why stop? Clearly we are only now beginning to enter the midpoint/climax of the narrative.

Not to mention ONS is a monthly serialization, it means we get 12 chapters at most per month if there are no set backs or delays. I’m not sure why people are so hard-pressed on hating the manga when it’s clear there’s still love for it.

Yes, some things could be done better. Yes, some characters got the short end of the stick—but at the end of the day it’s still a compelling narrative (personally). It’s intricate and engaging and sort of a rabbit hole that makes you want to keep figuring out what’s going to happen next.

And if the characterization bothers you THAT much, write your own canon divergence of the story and explore what you would’ve liked to see instead.

Mindless hate is just a waste of your own time and everyone else’s. Invest that energy in things you like instead of droving on about how much you hate a series and questioning its validity to exist.

[lynaerith]

Art by スカ

Posted with Permission (reprint/edit and/or commercial use prohibited)

[lynaerith]

totally indulgent drawing for @butterykiki